A new greenhouse

I may be in the very fortunate position of upgrading my existing greenhouse to a slightly larger one - current one is 6x8 and the new one will be 8x10; not sure I can go much bigger I need to remeasure the area where the new one will go.

But just wondering what base most of you would recommend. My current one is on a solid concrete slab which wasn't the plan originally but its worked fine so far. I know though that many have the greenhouse direct on the soil with a concrete path in the middle?

There obviously isn't a right or wrong but just wondering what general consensus is - what base works best?

I originally put gravel all over my 8x10' but last year I put 2' borders down both sides (not the far wall) direct to soil and left the 4' in the middle as gravel. I have a 2' soil border in a U shape in the 6x10' with slabs down the middle.

If you already have a concrete slab down I'd suggest making use of that either partially or extend it.

When I bought my bigger one I bought the base to go with it. It was very easy for me to put the 4 corner 'legs' in holes, square and level the base, then postcrete round the 'legs' to fix it down. Once the postcrete had gone off I built the greenhouse on the base, so much easier than bricks/wood etc...

when we built our greenhouses we put one on a concrete slab and the second one on a concrete footing like one would build a house with slabs down the centre and poly sheeting each side covered with gravel we found the later with a footing grows the best its not so cold as the concrete slab

mind you on hind site I would always buy a greenhouse to go on a dwarf wall just my preference

Mine has a soil floor but with concrete slabs snugged into the soil down the middle (I wasn't sure if I might want to change the layout). This works very well - I can plant in the border or use pots, a quadgrow or whatever.

In the end, I think that what you choose depends on what/ where you want to grow in yours. Good luck!

hi there,i hava a wooden greenhouse on a concrete block plinth with a strip of rubber that the frame rests on.I am lucky enough to have a metal 6x8 that is fixed to a metal plinth pinned into the ground,borders on three sides,small path.I used slabs on one years ago and after a while they became slightly uneven allowing draughts in along with anything else that could squeeze their way.So for me it will always be a plinth.

I use a path of trodden earth down the middle, next year sweetcorn though needs to be in the middle bit, so can change easily.Next door has soil all over, plants in soil...very nice sweetcornOther next door has concrete, plants in pots..cucs, toms, peppersWhat do you wish to grow?

I usually grow tomato, chilli, aubergine and cucumbers in the greenhouse. But this year is the first year I've had an allotment as well so I would like to do a lot more sowing from seed to transplant into the raised beds at the allotment. With the weather being rather unpredictable these days I think growing in a sheltered space vs direct into the ground may work out better?

Edited to add / ask - if I put the new greenhouse directly on the soil with a path in the middle (which is what I'm leaning towards at the moment); how many more slug (or other pest) problems would I potentially have compared to a greenhouse that's on a solid base?

Not sure about solid bases (I've not had one) but I have not found slugs to be an issue in my greenhouse. Red spider mite, yes (really, I could NOT wet it down enough with the warm, sunny summer we had - not complaining, though!) - just something to try to get on top of before it is an issue.

As I plant some things in the border, I do take off as much soil as possible at the end of the season and replace it with fresh garden compost, to avoid diseases and tired soil build up.

I think the soil base gives me more options as I can plant up containers, bags etc. on top of it /on benches or I can dig something straight in

A board just over a bucket in height might stop mice walking in, though they would burrow in soil. Slugs and snails will scale any height.

Grinling - dare I admit that I'm not all that fussed about mice. Besides the fact that I have enough cats that should keep them away I think they're fairly cute critters and I tend to grow enough of everything that there's enough for me and any wildlife that may need it - and then it's up to me to make sure that anything that shouldn't be damaged by them is stored away securely. Slugs and snails on the other hand I'm not that keen on but I'll deal with that as and when. Last winter I sadly lost the fish in my pond and I never restocked and as a result it's so much more an amazing wildlife pond and I have loads of frogs etc so hopefully that will balance out the slug / snail population a bit

I do totally agree that the no fish in the pond have made a big difference and it'll be interesting to see what happens next year once the now still small frogs are larger and I think it will all balance out even more.

Regarding the hedgehogs, I'm super lucky in that I have quite a few of them as regular visitors to my garden; but *(if I may) just to remind people that slugs and snails are not their main diet - in fact they are right at the bottom of the list and if anything the slugs can give them lungworm so they usually steer clear of those. Log piles that harbour invertebrates are so much better as that's the main diet for our spikey friends. And I always support feed and leave water and hedgehog food out for them (no milk, bread, mealworms, whole peanuts etc) - just plain dry kibble; either hedgehog specific or cat or dog food

They're such fascinating creatures and I'm so lucky to have them. I had a mom with four babies in the garden a while back and managed to get this photo of them... the fourth one was sticking really close to mom

We generally recommend a hard and level surface of either slabs or concrete, as either a perimeter base or a complete solid area.Quite a few people are now installing their greenhouses onto decking as well.

Whatever you decide, make sure you've got a spirit level and check your base is square and level. Very important.

I do totally agree that the no fish in the pond have made a big difference and it'll be interesting to see what happens next year once the now still small frogs are larger and I think it will all balance out even more.

Regarding the hedgehogs, I'm super lucky in that I have quite a few of them as regular visitors to my garden; but *(if I may) just to remind people that slugs and snails are not their main diet - in fact they are right at the bottom of the list and if anything the slugs can give them lungworm so they usually steer clear of those. Log piles that harbour invertebrates are so much better as that's the main diet for our spikey friends. And I always support feed and leave water and hedgehog food out for them (no milk, bread, mealworms, whole peanuts etc) - just plain dry kibble; either hedgehog specific or cat or dog food

They're such fascinating creatures and I'm so lucky to have them. I had a mom with four babies in the garden a while back and managed to get this photo of them... the fourth one was sticking really close to mom

Oh they are very cute, I used to see hedgehog poo in the garden here in autumn, but not for a while now.